Sunday, November 29, 2009

A&E INTERVENTION Marathon Sunday 1pm-6pm Monday 11am-2pm & 5pm-10pm 7-8 Asa 8-9 Marci 9-10 NEW Linda Ken is Interventionist on. Season Premier 9pm Monday Linda.. Hope you get to see it and let me know what you think this is my last one, and I have to say I lost 40 lbs since. Hope you can tune in and hear from you..

Thursday, November 19, 2009

When people are under the influence of a substance (alcohol included) their perception of right and wrong is blurred. This woman in the story described below is obviously deep in her addiction. As funny as it may sound and foolish of a decision for her make, she is in desperate need of help.

While people are in their addiction inadvertently they will do things that are a cry out for help, some are ridiculous and some are life altering – some life ending. Whether this postal worker was an alcoholic or not, she hopefully is sitting in her bottom and the gift of recovery will be able to take place in her life.

Don’t read about your family member or yourself in the daily paper, make the decision to the take the first step towards a healthy and substance free life. If you know someone or are suffering from alcoholism, call us for a free consultation: 866-888-4911, www.intervention911.com.

MARION, Iowa (AP) - Police in Marion and postal authorities are investigating the case of a mail carrier who was allegedly found drunk inside a residence while on the job. Police said the postal worker, 46, was charged with public intoxication Nov. 3 after she was found sitting on the kitchen floor of 95-year-old woman's house, eating leftover noodles from her refrigerator.

Police Lt. Steve Etzel said Tuesday that the woman apparently entered the home through an unlocked front door. He said she was in uniform and had mail and a mail-carrying bag with her.The woman, a 17-year employee of the U.S. Postal Service, was taken to the Linn County Jail. Marion Postmaster Rick Leyendecker said the woman is currently on unpaid leave.___Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazetteonline.com/

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

In a perfect world we would help addicts by sending them into treatment rather than incarcerating them. It is so sad when a person becomes institutionalized ruining their life; more often than not institutionalized addicts do not receive the treatment they need. Only to walk through life labeled a convict and owning their parole #, becoming what society labels them. This is a festering problem that definitely needs change.

Read this article I found:

Expanding Drug Treatment: Is US Ready to Step Up?

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPublished: November 9, 2009Filed at 9:03 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Based on the rhetoric, America's war on drugs seems poised to shift into a more enlightened phase where treatment of addicts gains favor over imprisonment of low-level offenders. Questions abound, however, about the nation's readiness to turn the talk into reality.The economic case for expanding treatment, especially amid a recession, seems clear. Study after study concludes that treating addicts, even in lengthy residential programs, costs markedly less than incarcerating them, so budget-strapped states could save millions.

The unmet need for more treatment also is vast. According to federal data, 7.6 million Americans needed treatment for illicit drug use in 2008, and only 1.2 million -- or 16 percent -- received it.

But the prospect of savings on prison and court costs hasn't produced a surge of new fiscal support for treatment. California's latest crisis budget, for example, strips all but a small fraction of state funding away from a successful diversion and treatment program that voters approved in 2000.

''It's easy to talk a good game about more treatment and helping people,'' said Scott Burns, executive director of the National District Attorneys Association. ''But it smashes head on into reality when they don't put their money where their mouth is.''Money aside, the treatment field faces multiple challenges. At many programs, counselors -- often former addicts themselves -- are low-paid and turnover is high. Many states have yet to impose effective systems for evaluating programs, a crucial issue in a field where success is relative and relapses inevitable.

''Fifty percent of clients who enter treatment complete it successfully -- that means we're losing half,'' said Raquel Jeffers, director of New Jersey's Division of Addiction Services. ''We can do better.''

The appointment of treatment expert Tom McLellan as deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in April was seen as part of a shift of priorities for the drug czar's office.

McLellan said he sees greater openness to expanding treatment but also deep misunderstanding or ignorance about scientific advances in the field and the need to integrate it into the health care system.

Most Americans, he suggested, have an image of drug treatment formed from the movies -- ''cartoon treatment'' involving emotional group encounters -- and are unaware of a new wave of medications and other therapies that haven't gained wide use despite proven effectiveness''For the first time, it can truly be said that we know what to do -- we know the things that work,'' he said. ''But do we have the economic and political willingness to put them into place? If we do, we'll see results.''

McLellan, insisting he's not ''a wild-eyed liberal,'' said expanding treatment wouldn't negate the war on drugs.

''Law enforcement is necessary, but it's not sufficient,'' he said. ''You need effective preventive services, addiction and mental health services integrated with the rest of medicine. You shouldn't have to go to some squalid little place across the railroad tracks.''By federal count, there are more than 13,640 treatment programs nationwide, ranging from world-class to dubious and mostly operating apart from the mainstream health-care industry.Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of the federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said his agency wants states to develop better measurements of programs' performance.''The data shows treatment saves money -- $1 spent to $4 or $7 saved,'' Clark said. ''If you're an altruist, making treatment available is a good thing. If you're a narcissist, it's a good thing -- you'd pay less in taxes.''

Treatment advocates are closely watching Congress, hoping the pending health care overhaul will expand insurance coverage for substance abuse programs. Recent federal data indicates that 37 percent of those seeking treatment don't get it because they can't pay for it -- and many land in prison.

The work force in drug treatment is, for the most part, modestly paid, with counselors often earning less than the $40,000 per year that it costs to keep an inmate in prison in many states.·

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The disease of addiction affects everyone that is involved with the person or people using drugs/alcohol. When parents are deep into addiction they get careless and their diseased state of mind has no regard for their children. More often then not, the bottom for parents is devastating and their children suffer the most.

Helping someone who has children to overcome their addiction is a gift that keeps on giving. Read this story I found in the “Washing Post.” It is devastating that 4 adults would leave heroin in reach of a 5 month old baby; or even worse intentionally give a baby heroin. Unfortunately this story is common and until us as family members, friends or concerned people come together and fight the disease of addiction; this type of neglect and abuse will continue.

If you know someone who is putting their child at risk, we can help. When people are loaded with children in the house, fatal accidents are prone to happen and abuse is at its peak. This reality can be prevented by taking the first step to help them become the parents they are suppose to be. An intervention can save the life of a baby or young child; an intervention can put a family back together.

By Tom JackmanWashington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, November 4, 2009A Fairfax County couple has been arrested on charges of allowing its 5-month-old son to overdose on heroin. The baby recovered and was placed with other family members, Fairfax police said.

Police say they think that the baby, who was not mobile, was lying on the floor of his parents' rented townhouse as they and two friends were shooting heroin and that the baby "picked up a packet of heroin and put it in his mouth," Fairfax Officer Bud Walker said.Court records indicate that the parents paid their babysitter in heroin.

The parents were arrested Thursday afternoon at their home on Loving Forest Court in the Newington Forest neighborhood of Springfield. The baby's mother, Marilyn Fischl, 36, was charged with felony child abuse and neglect. His father, Rafael Preston, 30, faces identical charges. Fischl was also charged with drug possession and unauthorized distribution of drug paraphernalia, and she was held in the Fairfax jail until Saturday, when she posted $10,000 bond. Preston posted bond and was released Thursday, according to jail records.Fischl and Preston did not answer the door or respond to a message left at their residence Tuesday.

Fairfax Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh said he could not comment on a pending case, but he noted, "It's always disturbing to think that people would use narcotics in the presence of a child of any age."

On July 14, Walker said, Fischl and Preston took the baby to the emergency room at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Hospital staff members became "suspicious as to why the baby was suffering" and contacted the county's Child Protective Services division, Walker said.

Social workers "took possession of the baby that day," Walker said. It is unclear how long the baby needed to be hospitalized. Fischl has at least two other young children who are also no longer in her care, Walker said.

The Fairfax police child abuse squad was not contacted until late July, Walker said, when toxicology reports were completed. Those found that the baby had tested positive for heroin. A search warrant affidavit written by Detective Darrin DeCoster said that Child Protective Services reported the case to police because the baby "was not mobile yet" and that child services suspected that "someone either intentionally gave the child a drug or he was accidentally poisoned."

DeCoster learned that in addition to Fischl and Preston, their friends Erin Flynn, 32, and Patrick Hall, 41, were at the townhouse July 14. Hall apparently had served as the infant's babysitter that day, DeCoster wrote, and Fischl "distributed heroin as payment for babysitting the victim in this case."

All four adults "consumed heroin in close proximity to the victim and recklessly left heroin and paraphernalia within reach of the child," DeCoster's affidavit says. "The child was able to wiggle around enough to get a hold of the heroin and subsequently ingested it. The result was that the child overdosed on heroin and nearly died."

Flynn and Hall were charged with felony child abuse and neglect. Walker said they were "long-term guests" in the townhouse. All four suspects allegedly admitted to being addicted to heroin and other drugs, DeCoster wrote.

Police obtained a search warrant for the townhouse three months after getting the case because all children had been removed from Fischl's custody by July 14, Walker said. "From our perspective, there was no rush," Walker said. Court records show the police seized a digital scale and a spoon.

Fischl has a long list of arrests, including prostitution charges in Fairfax and Prince William counties last year. In Fairfax, the charge was dismissed. In Prince William, Fischl was arrested in October 2008 at a Woodbridge hotel as part of an investigation to find children who are victims of prostitution and get them into protective custody, according to the Manassas Journal Messenger. But no children were found during the operation.

Court records show that Fischl was convicted in Prince William district court, appealed the case to circuit court and was found not guilty June 18, less than a month before her baby overdosed.Fischl also has been convicted in Fairfax of forging prescriptions and failing to have a child properly secured with a seat belt.

Preston was convicted of robbery in Prince William in 1996 and arrested in 2002 on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and selling marijuana. The firearm charge was dismissed, and the drug charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.

Neighbors said they were stunned as police swarmed the townhouse Thursday afternoon and shocked by the overdose allegation. Fischl and Preston have lived in the townhouse since July, their landlord Mark Callan said.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The holidays can be a difficult time for people suffering from addiction, what a better gift than to celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas with a loved one who has been struggling to stay sober. How do you know when it is time for an intervention or better yet, how do you approach someone you love that you suspect is an alcoholic or drug addict?

Alcohol is the second most addicting substance in our Nation and just because it is legal does not mean it is safe. Another silent killer is prescription medication; both substances are highly addictive and fatal. Contemplating a solution and looking for a way to help someone you love out of addiction is a difficult decision that has a simple solution. Here are a set of questions to help make the decision that could potentially save the life of someone you love:

Have you ever lied to cover up someone else's alcohol or drug use?

Do you ever threaten to leave a loved one for drinking or using drugs?

Have you been hurt, scared or embarrassed by a user's behavior?

Do you feel angry, confused, scared or depressed most of the time due to a loved ones drug or alcohol problem?

IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED YES TO ANY OF THE ABOVE QUESTIONS, MOST LIKELY IT IS TIME FOR AN INTERVENTION!

HOW DOES AN INTERVENTION WORK?

The first step is to call our toll free number: 866-888-4911 and talk to one of our specialist to guide you through the intervention process. From there we will help evaluate the appropriate steps to take towards getting your loved one into treatment. Our qualified team will walk the family through steps towards a better life.

Meet with the family or person requesting the intervention to help develop a healthy set of boundaries and develop a bottom where the individual suffering from addiction will no longer be comfortable living in their disease.Find a treatment center that can address all the addicts/alcoholics needs and give appropriate care to set the stage of developing a long lasting recovery.Address the family to ensure everyone can stand by their healthy boundaries and provide a loving and supportive bottom line where the disease of addiction can no longer consume the functioning of every day life.

Drugs and alcohol are not the only addictions people suffer from: eating disorders, depression, OCD, hoarding, abusive relationships these issues can also have devastating and life altering results.

We also have an aftercare program to help the addict through their first year of recovery. Remember treatment does equal recovery; they are two separate issues and need to be addressed in a manner that is appropriate for each individual. After detoxing from drugs and alcohol the real work begins; after-treatment programs are not the same for everyone. Addicts are unique and intelligent people; we address everyone with love and support. Achieving a long, healthy sober life is our main goal at Intervention 911.

www.intervention911.com, even if your not sure an intervention is the right thing to do, get a free consultation to help find a solution. Get all of your questions answered, find relief and most of all....get into the solution with Intervention 911.

About Intervention911

After struggling with his own addictions and finding long-term recovery, Ken Seeley was determined to give back by helping people caught up in the destructive and often fatal cycle of addiction. In 2002, Intervention 911 was born out of that desire and since then, has been providing families and their loved ones options and solutions leading to life-long recover. By developing the H.E.L.P.S. method of intervention, based on life experience and industry best practices, Ken Seeley and his team of professionals have helped thousands of families regain hope and serenity. Addiction is a progressive disease to which there is no simple formula. Intervention 911’s approach to recovery is both individualized and effective, considering every possible variable. By working with the family as a whole and treating each situation with compassion, care and a true desire to help, Intervention 911 has become highly regarded as experts in the field of intervention and recovery. The solution starts here.